Obama to tout next-generation autos Thursday

President Obama will return to Michigan Thursday to tour a plant that manufactures advanced-technology automotive batteries, his latest effort to highlight the administration’s mandate for dramatically more fuel efficient vehicles over the next two decades.

The Holland, Michigan facility, operated by Johnson Controls, will also serve as a backdrop for the president as he delivers his latest speech outlining how the administration believes implementing new automotive technologies will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs.

“This facility just emphasizes the administration’s commitment both to job creation and investment in clean-energy technologies,” Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, told reporters on a conference call.

“Because of the critical investment we have made and because of innovative companies like Johnson Controls, the United States will soon have the ability to produce enough batters to support 500,000 plug-in and hybrid vehicles and think this is an incredible story to tell,” she added.

The trip comes on the heels of Obama’s recent announcement mandating all automakers bring their average fuel mileage for passenger cars to 55.4 miles per gallon by the year 2025. The current government mandate is 27 miles per gallon.

“Taken together, the standards that the administration announced over the past weeks represent the largest single step our nation has ever taken to reduce our independence on oil,” Zichal also said.